End the exodus of people belonging to North-East

The continuing exodus of people belonging to the North-East region from cities like Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad on account of fears of retribution for the communal violence in Assam is a matter of grave concern.

With thousands having fled a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore for their homes in the North-East, the widespread unrest that can result from communal incidents in one particular part of the country has been made evident once again.

At the same time, while there may have been sporadic incidents of violence against people from the North-East, a dispassionate appraisal suggests that it is fear and panic more than any trouble at the ground level that is to account for the present situation.

People from India's northeastern states sit inside a train bound for the Assam state at the railway station in Kolkata at the weekend

This should make it easier for the authorities to restore a sense of security among the affected people in states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Nobody should be in any doubt that it is mischief- makers and rumour-mongers - the government says they are Pakistan-based - who are to blame for the ugly spectacle we have before us.

That the government has decided to ban bulk SMSes and MMSes should curb the activities of such anti-social elements. At the same time, it needs to be asked why such a move was not thought of earlier.

Central agencies say an advisory had been issued to states late last month about the possibility of trouble over the communal violence in some districts of Assam.

Unfortunately, it was not acted upon with seriousness. Governments in the affected states must do all they can to ensure that the exodus of people is stanched. In this context, our parliamentarians deserve praise for coming out strongly in support of people from the North-East and assuring them that they can live and work in any part of the country without any fear of persecution.

An optimistic forecast

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) headed by C. Rangarajan has scaled down its forecast for the country's economic growth rate to 6.7 per cent, but appears to be more optimistic than the RBI which has put the figure at 6.5 and leading consultancy firms such as Moody's which have slashed it to a meagre 5.5.

The PMEAC has also recognised that the growth of the farm sector will be adversely impacted by the weak monsoon. The PMEAC is worried over the runaway fiscal and current account deficits which pose the danger of leading to a downgrading of India's credit rating to junk status.

It has advocated bold reforms such as an increase in diesel prices, reduction in fertiliser and LPG subsidies, steps to bring in more FDI in multi-brand retail and civil aviation, and predictable tax policies to bolster growth.

This is not the first time that Rangarajan and his team have advocated these reforms and it remains to be seen whether the government has the political will to push them through.

Weakened by a slew of corruption scams, the government has to keep populist sentiments in mind as it prepares for assembly polls in key states followed by the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

This would constrain its headroom for taking bold measures that could benefit the economy, but would involve sacrifices on the part of the people who constitute the vote-bank.

More equal than others

Among writers and academics, plagiarism is a mortal sin. Most people who have been caught out at it, are condemned to live in an intellectual purgatory forever.

Except some specially privileged souls such as celebrity journalist Fareed Zakaria who, in his own words, made a 'serious lapse' of judgment in plagiarising a portion of an article by one Jill Lepore on gun control.

Mr Zakaria, an editor at large at the prestigious Time Magazine, and who has his own show on CNN, apologised profusely for the 'terrible mistake' and lo and behold, in just about a week, both organisations have lifted the ban they had placed on him when the controversy broke.

This is remarkable and has to do as much with Mr Zakaria's connections, as to the allegedly 'unintentional' nature of his action.

Perhaps the lenient approach has something to do with the India-born Zakaria. Because India has often appeared to be a country that tends to treat plagiarists lightly.

Though some journalists have lost their jobs because of plagiarism, there have been several academics whose careers have flourished, despite grave charges of plagiarism.